What can we do?
by jarec
Summary: Teachers at one of Gotham's best elementary schools discuss the problem of Dick Grayson.


Penny Givers had been a school teacher at Gotham's prestigious Renchild Private Elementary school, and she'd seen a lot. Most of her colleagues who taught at inner city schools would have scoffed at that statement- the Renchild School was a school for the rich, located in the wealthiest part of the city. What could she possibly have seen, teaching in such a privileged environment? Penny wasn't stupid; she knew that many teachers saw worse things than she did, but that didn't change the fact that she'd seen some bad things. Depression. Alienation. Self-hatred. Various psychological traumas, inflicted by parents who were either uncaring or overly demanding. Not to mention those parents who took 'spare the rod' a little too far. Abuse, she'd quickly learned, was by no means a class-based phenomenon.

So it was when one of her students repeatedly arrived to class with bruises and scars on his body, she wasted little time in wondering. Instead, she asked him to stay for a few minutes after class. When they were alone, she went over to his desk, and sat down next to him.

"Dick" She began, speaking softly and gently "is there something going on at home?"

Just as she'd anticipated, the boy looked nervous at her asking. His eyes darted away from her, and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "N-no, miss Givers. Why do you ask?"

She sighed. "Dick, I'm not blind. You've been coming to class exhausted for days now, and this is the third time this month you've had a black eye. Something is wrong, Dick, and I wish you would trust me enough to tell me what it is."

Dick laughed, but there was a forced tone to his laughter. "Aw, is that all? I told you, miss Givers, I've just been practicing my tumbling really hard! Tires me out, and well, those flips and cartwheels can be painful."

The young teacher got up and put a hand on the boy's shoulder, causing him to wince visibly. "Dick, I don't believe for a moment that you did this to yourself with tumbling practice. Tell me…is it Mister Wayne? "

"What?" Now the boy looked genuinely frightened "Bruce would never do anything like that!" The boy opened his desk and began putting his books away. "Miss Givers, I'm glad you care but really, there's nothing to worry about. I gotta go"

With that, the young ward of Gotham's wealthiest man raced out of the classroom.

Later, in the schools well-appointed teachers lounge, Penny stared moodily into her rapidly cooling tea. Her low mood must have been fairly obvious, because she felt someone tapping her on the shoulder. Looking up, she found Leonard Sizemore smiling down at her.

"Penny for your thoughts, Penny?" the elderly headmaster said, a teasing note in his voice.

"Ha ha" Penny replied, rolling her eyes at the familiar joke. "Leonard, tell me…have you ever had a student with problems at home? I mean, more than the usual 'daddy doesn't love me' or 'mommy wants too much'?"

The headmaster was quiet for a moment, and when he spoke it was softly and slowly. "I take it you're referring to young mister Grayson?"

"Leonard, the boy's always coming in with injuries, he's always tired and his explanations just get weirder and weirder! There must be something we can do"

"Penny" Sizemore sighed "there really isn't. IF it were any other child, then yes, we could alert child welfare and the police. But Bruce Wayne is the wealthiest and most well-connected man in this city. Any charges we made against him would almost certainly be dropped without investigation. More, given his generous donations to this school we might well find our jobs in danger."

"So, what?" Penny snarled, saddened and frustrated "Rich boy gets away with treating a great kid like Dick as his punching bag? God! Why did he even adopt the boy if he was just going to beat him?"

Now the aging administrator grimaced. "My guess? Wayne was like a boy with his first puppy- at first he thought it was going to be all fun and games. But when the reality of the situation set in, he lost interest. Only you can't just ignore a young boy, or give them away without a scandal. SO, stuck with the boy, he started taking his frustration out on the lad. After all, who's going to tell him not to?"

"Disgusting" the teacher fumed, wishing she had something stronger to drink than tea.

"Yes, which is why we should take the trouble to make school as pleasant as we can for the boy. At least he'll know there's one place he can be safe."

Penny sighed and nodded. "This stinks."

|Yes, but it's the best we can do" the older man replied, before letting out a small chuckle. "After all, it isn't as though Batman is going to swoop in and rescue the boy from Wayne, is he?"

A/N  
The more I thought about it, the more problematic it seemed for Dick to hide his identity as Robin, especially in the early years. I mean, just looking at him you'd think he was a victim of abuse, and Bruce's reputation really doesn't help. It's kind of ironic, really: Batman spends his nights protecting the innocent, but many people think his alteregos a childabuser.


End file.
